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Afghan Officials And Taliban In Two Separate ‘Tracks Of ‘Talks’

NDS chief and the national security advisor have held ongoing talks with the Taliban but are not sharing information with the HPC, AP reported.

Afghan officials are reportedly carrying out at least two tracks of talks with the Taliban - one between Afghanistan's intelligence chief Masoom Stanikzai and the group and another between the president’s National Security Advisor Mohammed Hanif Atmar and the Taliban, Associated Press has reported.

This comes after a wave of attacks in the country in January killed over 150 people and wounded hundreds more.

Sources familiar to the talks, who were speaking on condition of anonymity, told AP that although talks are ongoing, neither Stanikzai nor Atmar are talking to each other or to the High Peace Council about their discussions.

Hakim Mujahid, a member of the High Peace Council, confirmed that Stanikzai has regular contact with the Taliban's point man for peace talks, Mullah Abbas Stanikzai, AP reported. The two are not related.

Mujahid meanwhile told AP that the Taliban would not respond well to US President Donald Trump’s outburst last month where he said the door to talks was closed.

Mujahid said: "The language of power, the language of threat will not convince Afghans to surrender."

According to the news agency, Andrew Wilder, vice president of the Asia Program at the US Institute of Peace, multiple players in Kabul have contacts with the Taliban. "But this isn't being done in a coordinated manner to achieve clearly defined objectives," he said.

Meanwhile, the former No. 2 of the Taliban, Aga Jan Motasim, who still counts the group’s leader Mullah Habaitullah Akhunzada among his friends, warned that Trump's strategy of using the military to force a more compliant Taliban to the negotiation table could lead to more suicide attacks, AP reported.

Motasim said he wants to be a bridge between the government and Taliban.

Meanwhile, the National Security Council has rejected claims of Atmar in talks with the Taliban.

“Peace is the demand of all of Afghanistan’s people and government, and it is also one of government’s goals and this has always been said at press conferences by the National Security Council. To reach to this goal, government is doing all it can. Regarding the peace process I want to say that the High Peace Council is directing the process and the government is supporting the organization for its works,” Qadershah, a spokesman for the National Security Council said.

“We reject the Associated Press report that the National Security Council is holding face to face talks with Taliban and I am asking the media to publish the news accurately,” he said.

Afghan Officials And Taliban In Two Separate ‘Tracks Of ‘Talks’

NDS chief and the national security advisor have held ongoing talks with the Taliban but are not sharing information with the HPC, AP reported.

Afghan officials are reportedly carrying out at least two tracks of talks with the Taliban - one between Afghanistan's intelligence chief Masoom Stanikzai and the group and another between the president’s National Security Advisor Mohammed Hanif Atmar and the Taliban, Associated Press has reported.

This comes after a wave of attacks in the country in January killed over 150 people and wounded hundreds more.

Sources familiar to the talks, who were speaking on condition of anonymity, told AP that although talks are ongoing, neither Stanikzai nor Atmar are talking to each other or to the High Peace Council about their discussions.

Hakim Mujahid, a member of the High Peace Council, confirmed that Stanikzai has regular contact with the Taliban's point man for peace talks, Mullah Abbas Stanikzai, AP reported. The two are not related.

Mujahid meanwhile told AP that the Taliban would not respond well to US President Donald Trump’s outburst last month where he said the door to talks was closed.

Mujahid said: "The language of power, the language of threat will not convince Afghans to surrender."

According to the news agency, Andrew Wilder, vice president of the Asia Program at the US Institute of Peace, multiple players in Kabul have contacts with the Taliban. "But this isn't being done in a coordinated manner to achieve clearly defined objectives," he said.

Meanwhile, the former No. 2 of the Taliban, Aga Jan Motasim, who still counts the group’s leader Mullah Habaitullah Akhunzada among his friends, warned that Trump's strategy of using the military to force a more compliant Taliban to the negotiation table could lead to more suicide attacks, AP reported.

Motasim said he wants to be a bridge between the government and Taliban.

Meanwhile, the National Security Council has rejected claims of Atmar in talks with the Taliban.

“Peace is the demand of all of Afghanistan’s people and government, and it is also one of government’s goals and this has always been said at press conferences by the National Security Council. To reach to this goal, government is doing all it can. Regarding the peace process I want to say that the High Peace Council is directing the process and the government is supporting the organization for its works,” Qadershah, a spokesman for the National Security Council said.

“We reject the Associated Press report that the National Security Council is holding face to face talks with Taliban and I am asking the media to publish the news accurately,” he said.